Kimberly padded into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of water to take her vitamins. She heard footsteps behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Gayle sleepily walking over to the coffee pot. She missed her morning coffee so much and while Tommy had stopped making coffee at home, she couldn't ask her in-laws to do that for a week.
"They still asleep?" Gayle asked and Kim shook her head. Jay and Kira had jumped on their bed at 4am, barely giving them any relief with the time change. Tommy had done his best to get her a couple of extra hours of sleep, but she had given up on it as braxton-hicks contractions assaulted her this morning. "So Tommy has them."
"He's been trying to let me get more rest and time to myself lately. They've been really clingy and insist on being carried everywhere. It's normal, but it's a lot," Kim said as she sat down at the kitchen table and grimaced as her stomach tightened. "And braxton-hicks contractions have started up too."
"You sure you want to do Disney?" Gayle continued to make breakfast as Kim rocked back and forth, riding out the contraction. She heard the stampede of tiny feet and knew that Tommy had held them off as long as he could. They scrambled up into her lap and she forced a smile as Tommy rubbed her shoulders. She tilted her head towards him and he leaned down to give her a quick kiss and then reached down to rub her sides.
"Ganma- pancakes?" Kira piped up as she bounced in Kim's lap and gave Gayle the best doe eyed look she could muster. "Peas."
"Do you want to help?" Kira scrambled out of Kimberly's lap and sprinted over to Gayle. Gayle picked her up and placed her on her hip as she went to get the small stool that Tommy had used years before and now his babies were able to use. Jay gave them a grumpy look as he sucked on his thumb and played with a lock of Kimberly's hair. He might be awake, but he was not happy about it.
"I didn't know you kept that," Tommy said as he made himself a cup of coffee, inwardly cringing as he watched Kimberly jealously eye it. He had gone into autopilot as soon as he had smelled it. While he was not drinking coffee at home, the Command Center had been providing him cups whenever he was having a particularly rough day.
"I always thought you'd have kids someday and there would be little hands in my kitchen again that wanted to help." Gayle poured the milk into a measuring cup and then guided Kira's hands over the bowl before she dumped the milk in and looked up at her expectantly. Gayle continued to measure out ingredients and hand them to Kira who happily dumped each of them in the bowl. Gayle handed her a large spoon and helped her mix it all together.
"How are you doing that? She normally is screaming 'I do'd it' if we try to help," Kim remarked in amazement as Kira gave her a proud grin and she smiled at her before peeking over to see that Tommy had broke out his phone to get some pictures. In the last several months, he had become much more proactive with documenting this stage of their life and the sweet moments he captured had made her cry on more than one occasion.
"Grandma magic," Gayle said with a smirk as Jay perked up at the word 'magic' and looked around before settling back against Kimberly. "Whew…are you sure you don't want help when this one is born?"
"We do, but we'll need more help at the beginning of the academic term come September. The summer will have a lot less on us." Tommy stood up, made another cup of coffee and placed it in front of Kim. She had been great about not having coffee, but this was one of the days where she was going to need it. "What is it?"
"I have an itch on my ankle and I can't reach it." Tommy pointed between ankles and she nodded towards her left one. He reached down and scratched it as he watched the relief flood her face. He noticed her feet looked a bit swollen and gave her a concerned look. He didn't remember this last time. "I'm 7 months pregnant, my feet are just swollen and tired and my back hurts and..."
"I am well aware that I'm getting a vasectomy as soon as you're recovered enough to watch after the three of them so that this doesn't happen again." Gayle jerked around as Tommy remembered where he was and let out a sigh. His parents had thought they would just have two children after she had twins, so baby number three had been a surprise to them. Frankly, he was also a surprise to Kim and Tommy. "You okay if I go for a quick run?"
"I think we'll be fine," Gayle said with a wink as Tommy walked over and gave his mom a quick hug before he went to throw on a pair of running shorts and sneakers. "He really agreed to that?"
"Yeah, we both hate what birth control does to me and this will be easier on his body than on mine. He may have also agreed that he would do this since I was having his babies," Kimberly said as Gayle just shook her head. "He will also 100% take advantage of it, but it's two days- not nine months."
"I get it now," Tommy whispered as the twins happily jabbered away with Minnie Mouse and his parents were snapping pictures. Kimberly had settled against his side and he marveled at how well she was holding up with how tired she had to be. He knew she would say it was all the days working in television, but he suspected that this was different. "I get why you insisted we do this."
"Good. There's only so much of their lives where they can have this kind of joy. And let's face it, with our history…" Kimberly was cut off as there was a squeal and a woman started running towards them. Tommy gave her a look and she set her face in a smile and turned towards the woman.
"Oh my gosh. I am such a big fan, I was so sad when you left the Today Show, but your YouTube channel is amazing. I love how you're talking about all of the parenting challenges, how your life has changed. Power Rangers. I mean…I didn't see that one coming. Sorry. I'm Maria," Maria rambled as Kim smiled over at her. She felt Tommy's nervousness, this was definitely not his thing. It was only her thing because of the years and years she had had these kinds of interactions with fans.
"It's so nice to meet you, Maria. And thank you, this transition has been…well I never thought it would happen," Kim admitted as she gave her a hug and she looked up to see an embarrassed husband and family trailing behind her. "Is this your family?"
"Maer…" her husband started and Kim waved him off as Maria introduced her to all of them. She felt little hands pull on her legs and she leaned down to pick Kira up without missing a beat.
"Hold on. This…they're…" Maria trailed off as she stared over at Tommy and Kim gave her a smile as she nodded. "Oh I am so sorry, I didn't think. I didn't realize."
"Maria, it's fine. I chose this life and I really appreciate you coming over and letting me know how I'm still able to reach people," Kim said as she grabbed her arms and the woman nodded. "You want a picture? It looks like you have a couple kids that want to see Minnie and Mickey too."
"Thank you," her husband mouthed as they turned to take a quick picture and they then went on their way. Tommy walked over to her and grabbed Kira before stuffing her in the stroller. The husband paused and looked at him with recognition dawning on him. "Renshi Oliver?"
"Don't be a fangirl. Behave yourself," Maria sassed as she looked over at her husband as he had similar look on his face. "Renshi Oliver? Wasn't that one of the guest instructors at the martial arts camp you went to…what…seven years ago?"
"Yeah. That was me. We're actually setting up another one for after that little one is born," Tommy said as Jay climbed out of the stroller and started climbing up his body. "You're the owner of Tiger Rock Academy, right?"
"Da. Da. Da," Jay said as he grabbed Tommy's shirt and Tommy looked down at him as he waited for him to speak. Kira could babble at a wall, but Jay was only going to talk when he had his full attention. "Pa ba da ba. Pa ba da ba."
"We'll get a popsicle in a bit bud, promise," Tommy said as Jay snuggled against him happily. "If you're ever interested in hosting a camp, let me know- my schedule is more open than it used to be. And if you're ever in New York- feel free to drop in."
"Daaaaad, c'mon," the son begged as he grabbed his hand and Maria shook her head as her family ran off to join the line for Mickey and Minnie.
"This normal?" Gayle asked as Tommy shook his head no. He was almost never recognized, but he had gotten used to Kimberly being recognized by at least a few people everywhere that they went. The experience was different every time. She had warned him as soon as they got married to not interfere if things went off the rails and he had only interfered once. And that had been with a drunk fan that got far too handsy.
"You keep saying that I'm the only one with fans, but I think you're wrong," Kim said as she waddled next to him. He didn't remember it being this obvious with the twins, but she had also been put on bedrest for the last three months of that pregnancy. "Did I hear you agree to popsicles?"
"Yup," Tommy said as he watched her thinking about how to ask for what she wanted. "We'll find Dole Whip for you."
"Punnel!" Kira yelled as they walked past another character signing and they exchanged a glance. Jay would only stay content so long between asking for a popsicle and getting one. Kira would lose it if they passed up a princess.
"I'll go grab treats. A couple popsicles, a dole whip, and…" Russell trailed off as he looked around at the group.
"A couple of bottles of water too," Tommy said as he went to grab his wallet and his dad just shook his head. "Dad, c'mon."
"You paid for 4 plane tickets to come out here, the Disney tickets for today, and who knows what else. I'll get food for today," Russell rebuffed and Tommy just nodded as Jay scrambled down his body and Kimberly took both of the toddlers hands as they joined in on the line. They were both talking non-stop to Kimberly and he smiled as he watched her. Part of him still couldn't believe that this was his life, that he had her and that they were building a family together. She glanced back up at him and he tried to wipe the expression from his face that would betray what he was thinking.
"I know, sometimes I can't believe it too," Kim whispered as she looked at him expectantly and he leaned down to give her a reassuring kiss. She pouted a bit as he pulled away and he absentmindedly rubbed her belly, pausing as his hands got punched and kicked. He didn't notice his mom snapping pictures of them, he was too busy enjoying his family just as it was.